General Motors Invests in a Bright Idea

General Motors’ new venture capital division placed its first bet today, investing in an Indiana company with big plans to build plug-in–hybrid delivery vans.

General Motors Ventures is investing $5 million in Bright Automotive, a deal that gives GM a minority stake in the company and gives Bright access to the automakers’ vast parts bin. The investment resuscitates a program that had been dormant for months.

“This is an exciting day for Bright Automotive,” said Reuben Munger, company chairman and CEO. “This investment reinvigorates the program and we will be ramping up development in the third quarter.”

Bright Automotive is one of several upstarts promising to bring us cars with cords. But unlike, say, Coda Automotive, it is focusing on commercial delivery vehicles for fleets and small businesses. It makes sense.

Fleet vehicles tend to follow fixed routes, so range isn’t as big an issue. They’re kept in centralized locations, so charging is a breeze. And although they often have higher up-front costs, the operating costs are lower. Ford is making the same play with the Transit Connect Electric delivery van that goes on sale later this year.

The Bright Idea will deliver 38 miles of electric range and 36 mpg in hybrid mode. A four-cylinder gasoline engine — which, along with the transmission, will be supplied by GM — powers the front wheels. The electric motor drives the rear. The highly aerodynamic van offers 180 cubic feet of cargo space and a payload of 2,000 pounds.

Although the company unveiled a prototype last year and said the Idea would hit the road in 2012, development was stalled as funding dried up during the recession, Munger said. Now that the company’s been thrown a lifeline, it hopes to bring the Idea to market by 2014.

“We still expect to come to market within four years,” he said.

Bright hopes to build 50,000 vehicles annually in the United States. Munger said the vehicle will save fleet owners as much as 30 percent in operating costs over conventional vehicles, but he would not say what the Idea might cost.

“That’s not something we’re ready to talk about,” he said. Several companies and the United States Postal Service have expressed interest in the vehicle.

Bright Automotive is the first company to benefit from GM’s foray into venture capital. GM has set aside $100 million to bankroll startups and established companies developing alternative fuels and advanced automotive technology.

Aside from giving General Motors another customer for its components, the partnership with Bright gives the automaker a glimpse at new powertrain technology. GM hopes to find “mutually beneficial business opportunities,” said Jon Lauckner, president of General Motors Ventures.

“We’re going to benefit from working with an innovative startup,” Lauckner said. “And this will advance our position in developing energy-efficient powertrains and hybrid technology.”

Photos: The Bright Idea shows its stuff at its unveiling in Washington, D.C., last year.
Courtesy Bright Automotive